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Quickening or Regeneration
And
Conversion
A mystery
A birth, raising the
dead, curing the blind and the deaf, the raising of Lazarus, healing lepers, etc.
are all but part of a picture of this great salvation that we have in Jesus
Christ.
They are merely
earthly examples to explain a great spiritual mystery.
This is but a feeble
attempt to explain what part the Spirit has and what part the preached word has
in our deliverance.
Horse and cart but
connected.
What part is
quickening and what part is conversion?
Why is it important?
Well, why is
understanding election important?
God is a God of
order and we must not get the cart in front of the horse.
W. E. Best quote: W. E. Best in his book on Regeneration and Conversion
said, “One of the greatest blunders, on the subject of the new birth, is to make
it dependent on man’s faith. Opposers of Biblical regeneration advocate that the
new birth must, in some way, be the response of one who hears the gospel. Such
verses as James 1:18 and I Peter 1:23 are used to prove their theory; but the
exegesis of the two texts demands no such conclusion.” He goes on to say,
“immediate regeneration does not deny that the new birth, in which the new
life becomes manifest, is secured by response to the gospel” and he then
explains that James and Peter use a word that means to “bring forth.” And we
might add that the word that James used was actually translated “bringeth forth”
in James 1:15. To bring forth involves more than quickening or “making alive”.
Before we get
started let me say right away: There is NO salvation apart from faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ as savior. He must be the object of our faith. It is His work and His
shed blood that we must be trusting in and not our own righteousness or religious activity. The Gospel is “Good News” that Jesus came into this
world to die for sinners and that he was buried and rose again from the dead
after three days and sits at the right hand of God making intercession for His
people. No man or woman will ever be saved apart from hearing,
in some form or another, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and believing on Jesus
Christ for salvation. In the context of calling on the Lord Jesus Christ for
salvation Paul said, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how
shall they hear without a preacher?” There is no salvation apart from the Gospel. BUT TO HEAR SPIRITUALLY ONE MUST HAVE A HEARING EAR. We also believe that everyone that has this God given
faith will persevere because “he which hath begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
With that said: To be quickened and to be saved are not the same. The one leads to the other. Salvation encompasses much
more than quickening but it does include quickening. Quickening is the very first thing that happens and
enables all of the other things that happen in the heart and soul of the sinner
that is saved. Believing on Christ is something that the sinner does,
but with quickening the sinner has no part in it. This we will show from the
scriptures. The Bible tells us that we are saved by grace through
faith. Jesus said, “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”
But nowhere will you find that we are quickened by
faith. When Jesus spoke of the new birth in John he used a
Greek word that meant “born from above.” As we shall show this is not at all the
same word used by Peter and James where the preached word is in view, but we
will get to that later. Let me also add that there is no way that a person could
be quickened and go on in unbelief. He or she would be like a fish out of water.
That person will seek for answers out of necessity. They will seek when before
they never sought. “There is none
that seeketh after God” (Rom 3:11). Yet the Bible
says, “he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Heb 11:6).
This brings us to
our next point:
There is a difference in the word that Christ speaks and
the word that we preach to men. Jesus is the Word. He is the living Word of God.
When he commanded the sea and the winds to be still they obeyed His voice and
the men there marveled that even the winds and the sea obeyed Him.
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light”
(Gen 1:3). When Jesus “cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth
“ we read that “he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with
graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin.” Lazarus may not have been able to walk on his own since
he was bound hand and foot but he now had legs and arms that could function. He
might not have seen too much with his face being bound with a napkin but he had
eyes that could see. As Brother Wilbur Johnson said, “Let him go he’s ready
to operate now.”
My point is that when the Lord Jesus Christ calls the
sinner and says “Live” that sinner is made alive.
So how are men
quickened?: We know it’s not by anything the sinner does. The Master of theology said, “It is the
spirit that quickeneth; the flesh
profiteth nothing: the words that I
speak unto you, they are spirit [a
spiritual mind is needed to understand them], and they are life.” (John
6:63). Concerning the birth from above Jesus said, “The wind bloweth where it
listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” In
John’s gospel we are told that this
birth which is from above is “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God.” Quickening is a raising from the dead. It is a giving of
life to the dead. “For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth
them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will” (John 5:21). The Bible also tells
us that Jesus is the quickening spirit as Paul says, “the last Adam was made a
quickening spirit.” When Jesus speaks
concerning a particular sinner and says live the dead sinner is quickened by the
Holy Spirit. Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians “and you hath he
quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1). Who is the “he” in
this verse? It is God according to verse 4 and 5 of that same chapter.
Why do I seem to be
splitting hairs?
We are not splitting
hairs but just getting it in the right order: Another question we might ask. Is our preaching the
cause of quickening? Does our preaching of the Gospel have power in itself to
cause new life? I have already stated that no man will be saved apart
from hearing and believing the preached word, but is that preaching the cause of
quickening? I would contend that quickening is from the voice of the
Living Word but not from the preaching of God’s word by men. And, does the Holy
Spirit even use the word that men preach as a means to quicken as some contend?
Or is the word used by the Spirit to “bring forth” as the word in James
indicates.
An earthly analogy
that we can all understand: A man is totally blind. He is in a cave that has no light. If you turn on a light he sees nothing. If you cure his blindness and no light is turned on he
still sees nothing, but he now has the potential to see. So while light cannot give the potential to see or cure
blindness yet it is absolutely necessary for every aspect of sight. The Gospel is the ONLY true light but it is only light
to those that the Holy Spirit gives site to via quickening. Another example: A man is totally deaf in a sound proof room that has no
sound. If you turn on a loud speaker and emit sound waves he
hears nothing. If you cure his ears of deafness and there is absolutely
no sound he still hears nothing, but he now has the potential to hear. So also, sound cannot cure deafness but it is required in
every aspect of hearing. As Jesus said, “He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear” (Matthew 11:15). The Gospel is the only true sound that can save but it
is only the true sound to those who have ears to hear. It may seem that I am splitting hairs, but I contend
none that the Lord himself did not split.
The Lord Jesus’ Parable of the Sower: In this parable the Lord tells us exactly what it means
so there is no doubt about its meaning. Luke 8:5
A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way
side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6
And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered
away, because it lacked moisture. 7
And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8
And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an
hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears
to hear, let him hear. Now we must ask. What is meant by the seed that the
sower is sowing? And what is meant by the “good ground” which is the only one
that produces any fruit? Well the Lord tells us. He says that the “seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11).
But it is the word of God that is preached indiscriminately. Now what is the “good ground”? I have said in the past
that the good ground was plowed ground and that it was plowed up by the Holy
Spirit. While that may have a ring of truth to it let’s see what the Lord said
the good ground was, for he tells us. “But that on the good ground are they, which in an
honest and good heart, having
heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” Luke 8:15). "They, which in an
honest and GOOD HEART..." Please notice that the seed did not make the ground good
but fell on ground that was already good or was made good by something other
than the seed that fell on it. Here is the
great blunder of Gospel regeneration. If what Jesus says is true and I do not
dare doubt it, then the Gospel only regenerates good people. But I thought Jesus
said that “there is none good but one, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17). And didn’t Paul say that “there is none that doeth
good”? Well, that is absolutely correct. Now notice in Luke's account Jesus spoke of the heart being
honest and good and yet Jeremiah says “The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Do we have a contradiction here? No, a thousand times no!
Hear these
scriptures. Jeremiah 24:7
And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and
they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me
with their whole heart. Jeremiah 32:39
And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me
for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: Ezekiel 11:19
And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you;
and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart
of flesh: Ezekiel 36:26
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you:
and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an
heart of flesh. Acts 16:14
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira,
which worshipped God, heard us: whose
heart the Lord opened, THAT SHE
ATTENDED unto the things which were spoken of Paul. (Quickening or regeneration is the opening of the heart
while conversion is the response of an opened heart to the word of God). BELIEVING IS A
MATTER OF THE HEART AND NOT JUST THE MIND: Luke 24:25
Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of
HEART to believe all that the
prophets have spoken: Acts 8:37
And Philip said, If thou believest WITH
all thine HEART, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
HEART that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For
WITH THE HEART man believeth
unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Back to the parable
of the sower: In Matthew’s account it is the
understanding that is different. READ Mat 13:3-9 See Explanation: Matt 13:18-23 The difference was the good ground hearer is he that "understandeth". But, Romans 3:11
There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God. Luke 24:45
Then opened he their understanding, that
they might understand the scriptures, (The potential to understand must be given first. A
spiritual mind is necessary first and that is given in regeneration or
quickening.) The scriptures give understanding but they do not open it. Spiritual understanding involves the heart as well.
Jesus said, “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of
hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart,
and should be converted, and I should heal them.” 1Cor 2:12
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of
God; that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not
in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;
comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the
natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know
them, because they are spiritually discerned. (Being quickened by the spirit of God is what enabled us
to know.) (Intelligent men without quickening have no clue.) Notice in verse 14 of 1st Corinthians 2 that
the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God. What are the things of God? His word is it not,
which includes the Gospel? In
Mark’s account of the sower the good ground was he that received the word of God
and brings forth fruit (Mark 4:20). So something happened to that hearer in that
he was not a natural man anymore. IN THE PARABLE
OF THE SOWER, THE SEED DID NOT MAKE THE GROUND GOOD BUT FELL ON GOOD GROUND. The ground was made good before the seed fell on it. Paul said in his flesh dwelt no good thing (Romans
7:18).
Concerning the seed: While it was not the seed that made the ground good it
was the seed that caused the good ground to bring forth fruit. Without the seed
there is no fruit. Without the Gospel there is no object for our faith. In our passage the Lord also said: "He that
HATH EARS to hear, let him hear."
(Luke 8:8). What is needed first, the hearing or the hearing ear? A man needs a hearing ear before he can hear. This is
true in the natural world and is true in the spiritual world as well or else
Jesus would have never used it as an example. One must be present before the other can take place. The
potential to hear must be present in order to hear. Where does the hearing ear come from? Where does the seeing eye come from? Proverbs 20:12
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of
them. Both physical and spiritual. So what part does the seed or the word of God preached
or read play in our salvation? Our salvation does not stop at quickening or
regeneration. There is a deliverance
that takes place. Brother Curtis Pugh told me of a statement that Brother
Milburn Cockrell had related to him in order to better understand this. I think
his statement hits the nail on the head. Br Cockrell said that, "the Holy Spirit regenerates or
quickens the spirit of man. The spirit of man -
when made alive by regeneration is
that which can know and
experience God. The Word of God converts the soul of man. The soul of man is
that by which man has self consciousness and is also aware of natural
surroundings." W. E. Best in his book on regeneration said, “To the
spiritual mind, creation is the lattice work behind which God hides himself.”
“My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he
standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself
through the lattice” (Song of Solomon 2:9). So where is the POWER of the Gospel? “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is
the power of God unto salvation” – but the verse does not stop there does it? Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. It is only the power of God to them that believeth. The
potential to believe must be present before the Gospel can be believed. Then
there is light for the seeing eye. Then it has power unto salvation. Then it has
power to deliver. Compare: 1Corinthians 1:17
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with
wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
18 For the preaching of the
cross is to them that perish foolishness;
but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
... 23 But we preach Christ
crucified, unto the Jews a
stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
24
But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. The difference is not you or the preaching of the Gospel
but the effectual call of God. The difference is the quickening power of the
Holy Spirit. The difference is God. “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain
that build it…” (Psalm 127:1).
True Conversion as a
Result of Regeneration
Conversion begins immediately after quickening and that
is what takes place in time, and surely in this experience that one writer called
“Pilgrim’s Progress”, the word of God becomes involved. It must be involved in
the deliverance of sinners. Back to Brother Milburn Cockrell’s Quote: Br Cockrell
said, "The Holy Spirit regenerates or quickens the spirit of man. The spirit of
man - when made alive by regeneration is that which can know and experience God.
The Word of God converts the soul of man.
The soul of man is that by which man has self consciousness and is also aware of
natural surroundings." W. E. Best rightly says that quickening is not an
experience but results in an experience. When a blind man sees he experiences
site only when light is involved not when he is healed. We are not laboring to put a time gap in here but to
make the order right. "Regeneration is not in itself an experience; conversion
is a series of Christian experiences.... A person knows nothing of the beginning
of his existence. Conversion, however, is always an awareness of what is taking
place; therefore, it is experimental. Repentance and faith are experiences known
to the person born of God." (W. E. Best). In John’s gospel Nicodemus is presented with the truth
of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. It is a sovereign act of God Almighty in the
person of the Holy Spirit. What follows regeneration is conversion. Conversion
consists of a godly sorrow that worketh repentance toward salvation or trusting
Jesus Christ as savior never to be repented of. So what follows the truth of the new
birth from above or regeneration is the truth that the son of man who came down
from heaven would be lifted up in like manner as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness. In that event we see a picture of the sting of death which is
sin and the lifting up of the substitute who was being made sin for all that
looked to it. Here we have the sting of conviction; a knowledge that
it will lead to death and a looking to the
only one who can redeem from
that awful condition. They didn’t look to Moses. They didn’t look to each
other for help. They didn’t even try and fight the serpents. They simply looked
to the fiery brazen serpent lifted up on a pole which was
a picture of our suffering substitute
being made sin for us and suffering the divine wrath of God for our sins in our place
and yet not consumed by it. All of this is the result of regeneration and not the
cause. Salvation is an experience. It is something we know
experimentally. But the Bible says that, “the natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can
he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” and also that “the carnal
mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” A few questions: Is “godly sorrow that worketh repentance” the product of
a carnal mind? Is it pleasing to God? “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” (Luke 15:10). Oh, it is well pleasing to God. Is “godly sorrow that worketh repentance”,
the product of the natural man that recieveth not the things of the
Spirit of God? But the complete verse is “For godly sorrow worketh
repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world
worketh death” (2Cor 7:10). “Worketh” means to accomplish. So godly sorrow
accomplishes repentance and that repentance “to” or “unto” or “towards”
salvation. Here we have conversion in action. The example of
the thief on the cross: 1) He railed on Christ at first (He may have feared Rome
but not God). "The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in
his teeth" (Matthew 27:44). In this verse we see he was no different than the
other thief. This has perplexed some and so they come up with the idea that
there were more than two, because at least two (plural) railed on Christ and
mocked him along with those around that scene. We contend that there were only
two as the Bible plainly states in Matthew 27:38 and Mark 15:27. One on his
left and one on his right. 2) But what happened? Bam! Something certainly happened to this one thief. I contend that what happened was immediate or
instantaneous. What follows is a manifestation of the instantaneous
event that came within him but from without. It was from God the Holy Spirit. The good ground is he that understandeth and has a good
and honest heart and receives the word as Jesus tells us. Proverbs 9:10
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom
and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” Instead of joining the other thief he now tells him,
"Dost not thou
fear God seeing thou
art in the same condemnation?" (Luk 23:40). He was about to die and face God. He now fears God, not Roman justice. THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS MADE THE GROUND GOOD TO RECIEVE THE
WORDS THAT AT FIRST HE MOCKED. All those mocking words, “he saved others”, and “if thou be the Son of
God”, and “if he be the King of Israel”, and
“for he said, I am the Son of God” was suddenly truth to his heart . The Lord has taken away the stony heart and given him a
heart of flesh. 3) Now the godly sorrow is working repentance. "For godly sorrow worketh repentance TO salvation not to
be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." (2Cor
7:10). He now says, "And we indeed justly; for we receive the
due reward of our deeds:" vs 41. Justly before God who is to be feared, not simply the
law of the land. “It has been suggested that some may be sensible to the
evil of sin with regard to themselves, but they do not recognize that their sin
is against God. Damnation may scare them, but pollution does not. Hell may
frighten them, but offending God does not” (W. E. Best). The thief was convinced of sin, righteousness, and
judgment as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit. 4) He now sees the righteousness of Christ and now
believes all that had been said about him in a mocking way. He says "but this man hath done nothing amiss". vs 41. He now believes that Jesus is the Son of God, the King
of Israel and the Lord of the kingdom. 5) He has no place to turn but the LORD Jesus Christ. He is shut up to the mercy of God. He's hanging on a tree with no way out. “He saved others” he had heard. He needed saving. He now seeks mercy from Christ. This is a plea for mercy and not a demand or a right
that he thought he had. He says, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy
kingdom." vs 42 It's a plea because if the Lord does not remember him,
he is toast and doomed to eternal damnation. He knows Jesus as Lord and a King before he knows him as his
personnel savior. 6) Then he receives the assurance of salvation from the
Lord's promise. "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day
shalt thou be with me in paradise." vs 43. Now he knows Him experimentally as savior. 7) He now has rest in the promise of Christ. He is saved
from his sins. He is safe. Death cannot separate him from the love that is in
Christ Jesus. He has Jesus' promise. Somewhere in there between his mocking of Christ and his question
to the other thief when he asked “dost not thou fear God” he was quickened and
then his soul was converted. If “godly sorrow” comes before trusting and resting in
Jesus Christ and is not the product of a carnal mind then what caused it? From
what mind did it come? It might be argued that it is the preparatory work of
the Holy Spirit. But, where was this work done? In the heart.
Peter’s message on the day of Pentecost: Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were
pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles,
Men and brethren, what shall we do? The word did prick their hearts but why?
With one group the sword of the Spirit pricked their
hearts and with the other group it cut their hearts. Didn’t Stephen say, “ye do always resist the Holy Ghost:
as your fathers did, so do ye.”
What about 1 Peter 1:23 and James
1:18
Without explaining these verse in detail, Peter and
James are dealing with a bringing forth and not initial quickening. A proper
study of these Greek words is necessary to understand this. Curtis Pugh on
these verses:
The first verse
for our consideration is as follows: “Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for
ever,” (1 Peter 1:23). Immediately someone says, “Why that verse teaches
that regeneration is accomplished by the Word of God.” If that is the meaning of
this verse, then we have a contradiction in the Bible because Jesus said that
regeneration is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. John 3:6, 7 says: “That
which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” Jesus used
the word “gennao” both times that we have the word “born” in these two verses.
He speaks of the work of the Spirit in infusing life into a spiritually dead
sinner. But Peter in his statement used a different word. He uses “anagennao” -
a related word, but with an important difference in meaning and in a different
tense. Surely every Baptist knows what the prefix “ana” means. It has to do with
redoing something such as baptism. Our anabapist forefathers always denied that
they re-baptized saying that they only baptized aright for the first time those
who had been baptized by other sects. The tense is clear in the English for it
says “being.” It does not say “having been,” (in the past), but present tense,
“being” - an ongoing birthing. Jesus spoke of regeneration as a birth. Peter
spoke of the Christian's ongoing conversion or sanctification. Jesus said
regeneration is a work of the Holy Spirit. Peter said conversion is a work of
the Word of God. It is important to remember that it is the spirit of man that
is dead prior to regeneration. The spirit of man is that which if alive is
capable of knowing God. His soul is very much alive for by a man's soul he is
self conscious and conscious of his natural surroundings. A man's soul does not
need life, his spirit does. A man's spirit does not need conversion, it needs
regeneration. It is a man's soulish life – his life as a natural man – that
needs conversion. And so, rightly understood, there is no conflict between the
Lord Jesus and Peter. Regeneration is a work of the Spirit and conversion is a
work of the Word in a regenerated individual. Regeneration is the cause of
conversion for by it a dead sinner is made spiritually alive, is no more in the
flesh and therefore can profit from the Word. Thus an unregenerate individual
will not receive the Word nor can he know it in a spiritually profitable way.
Paul taught that in 1 Corinthians 2: 12-14 which says: “Now we have
received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we
might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we
speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto
him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
On to the second verse for consideration. This verse is James 1:18 which says:
“Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind
of firstfruits of his creatures.” On the surface this verse, while stating
that the new birth rests solely upon the will of God does seem to say that He
begat us with the Word of God. However two things must be considered. First of
all, James uses a completely different word from either Christ or Peter. His
word is “apokueo” and according to James Strong means primarily
“to bring forth.” The second
noteworthy thing is that in the phrase “the word of truth” the word “the” is not
there. Young's Literal Translation puts it “...He did beget us with a word of
truth...” What did Christ say about regeneration? “Verily, verily, I say unto
you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the
Son of God: and they that hear shall live,” (John 5:25). It was the voice of
the Son of God that raised Lazarus from his grave. It is the voice of Christ
that is the effectual call. The written and preached Word of God is merely the
general call, both inviting and instructing lost men and women to believe and to
come to Christ. Those are two things they cannot do as spiritually dead sinners.
Only upon Christ's effectual call have they life. Only upon His call will they
come forth from their tombs. Only upon His effectual word - “a word of God” -
can the impotent man stretch forth his withered arm. The general call and the
effectual call are both seen in the Lord's words, “For many are called, but
few are chosen,” (Matthew 24:14). “Many” hear the words of Scripture,
but only a comparatively “few are chosen” and do therefore hear “a word
of truth” - that is, “hear the voice of the Son of God.” I would add that the word that James used in 1:18 was
actually translated “bring forth” in verse 1:15. “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin:
and sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death.” Where does lust come from? Romans 1:24
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own
hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: How is death brought forth? Wouldn’t this person have been dead spiritually from the
beginning?
A quote from Charles
Spurgeon: THE WOMB OF
CONVICTION (Spurgeon – Sermon #564)
“You have profited in nothing by the flesh, but in all things by the Spirit of
the living God. Taking you from your
first conviction and tracking you to the present moment, it has been God’s
creating [quickening, LL]
and forming [conversion, LL].
In the womb of conviction he
fashioned you, and he hath nurtured you until now. Let this be your comfort: if
God could quicken you when you were absolutely dead, and if he has kept you
until this moment, can he not revive you again? Can he not make that spark again
become a flame? Have you fallen too low for him? Is his arm shortened that he
cannot save? Is his ear heavy that he cannot hear? No; he that hath delivered
thee aforetime will deliver thee yet again; therefore be thou of good comfort.”
[Brackets added by LL]
I would add:
What about Regeneration and the Responsibility
of Man W. E. Best said, “Since regeneration is presented as the act of the sovereign God, it is never presented as a duty of the sinner. The demands of the gospel upon sinners are limited to the terms of repentance and faith.” “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).
No one will be saved apart from hearing the Gospel. To that we agree but the
gospel is to be obeyed. Men are commanded to repent and believe the gospel but
obeying a command does not bring life. Galatians 3:21 / AV 21 Is the law
then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law
given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by
the law.
No one will ever be saved from hearing the Gospel. But the gospel is to be obeyed. Men are commanded to repent and believe the gospel but obeying a command does not bring life. But the Bible also teaches that obeying a command or a law cannot bring forth life. Paul said, "for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law" (Galatians 3:21). Notice Paul says "could have" then it would have been through obeying a law or a command. Men are responsible to God but responsibility stops when it comes to giving yourself life. We are responsible in Adam. We are responsible to live as though we have life because we were alive in Adam. But there is no command that can be obeyed that will grant life.
No law can give life. There is nothing a spiritually
dead sinner can do to give himself life.
We are
responsible to live as though we are spiritually alive because we were alive
once in Adam, but we are not responsible to give ourselves life.
Only God can
give life. It was God that breathed
into the first man the breath of life.
How do we know that we have been Regenerated or
are mere professors? Are we trusting in the Lord Jesus with all of our being? Is His work on the cross the object of our hope? Have we believed in the heart as well as the mind?
(Romans 10:9-10) Have we been converted like the thief and seen our own
sinfulness and lostness with no place to go but the righteousness of Christ? Does God’s Spirit witness with our spirit that we are
the sons of God? (Romans 8:16). Do we love the brethren? (1John 3:14).
You say, “Brother Lucien, Yes!”
Then God gave all that to you and it started with quickening your dead spirit
and converting your soul by His grace.
Give Him the Glory!
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